Accessibility Statement
Our commitment to inclusive design for every user
SnowDayCalculator.io is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We believe that winter weather information - including snow day predictions, school delay estimates, and safety guidance - should be available to everyone, regardless of ability or the assistive technologies they use. We continually work to improve the user experience for all visitors and apply relevant accessibility standards to our design, development, and content practices.
Conformance Status
We strive to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). WCAG 2.1 defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. While we aim for full Level AA conformance, we recognize that accessibility is an ongoing effort and some content or features may not yet fully meet every criterion.
Accessibility Features
SnowDayCalculator.io incorporates the following accessibility features across our platform:
- Semantic HTML: Pages use proper heading hierarchy, landmark regions (header, main, footer, navigation), and descriptive element types so screen readers can navigate content logically.
- Keyboard navigation: All interactive elements - including calculators, search forms, navigation menus, FAQ accordions, and theme toggles - are operable via keyboard alone without requiring a mouse or touch input.
- Visible focus indicators: Focusable elements display a clear, high-contrast outline when selected via keyboard, meeting WCAG 2.4.7 Focus Visible requirements.
- Skip navigation: A "Skip to main content" link appears at the top of every page, allowing keyboard users to bypass repetitive navigation.
- ARIA labels and live regions: Interactive widgets, search fields, and dynamic calculator results include appropriate ARIA attributes. Prediction results use aria-live regions to announce updates to assistive technology users.
- Color contrast: Text and interactive elements meet WCAG AA contrast ratios against their backgrounds in both light and dark themes.
- Responsive design: Content reflows and remains usable at zoom levels up to 200% and on screens of all sizes without horizontal scrolling.
- Reduced motion: Decorative animations, including the hero snowfall canvas, respect the prefers-reduced-motion media query and are suppressed for users who request reduced motion.
- Alternative text: Informative images include descriptive alt text. Decorative images are marked with empty alt attributes or aria-hidden.
- Form labels: All form inputs have associated visible or visually hidden labels, and error messages are programmatically linked to their fields.
Known Limitations
Despite our efforts, some areas of the site may present accessibility challenges. Third-party embedded content, such as advertising iframes or external weather imagery, may not fully conform to WCAG standards and is outside our direct control. Complex data visualizations in forecast tables may be difficult to interpret via screen reader alone; we provide textual summaries alongside visual data where possible. We are actively working to address known issues and welcome reports of barriers we may have missed.
Assistive Technology Compatibility
SnowDayCalculator.io is designed to be compatible with commonly used assistive technologies, including screen readers (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver), screen magnifiers, speech recognition software, and alternative input devices. We test with major browsers - Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge - on desktop and mobile platforms.
Feedback and Assistance
We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of SnowDayCalculator.io. If you encounter accessibility barriers, need content in an alternative format, or require assistance using any of our calculators, please contact us:
- Email: accessibility@snowdaycalculator.io
- Contact form: snowdaycalculator.io/contact
When reporting an issue, please include the page URL, a description of the problem, the assistive technology and browser you are using, and your preferred contact method. We aim to acknowledge accessibility feedback within five business days and to provide a substantive response or remediation plan within fifteen business days.
Continuous Improvement
Accessibility is integrated into our development process. New calculators, blog articles, and features are reviewed for WCAG compliance before release. We conduct periodic audits using automated testing tools and manual evaluation. This statement will be updated as we make improvements or identify new areas for enhancement.